YAKUZA 3 ARTICLES

August 31, 2010 - Every Tuesday, Sony drops a bunch of new stuff onto the PlayStation Network. Those with a PlayStation 3 or PSP can download this new goodness, which ranges from retail and PSN games to movies, themes and more. While the Official PlayStation Blog outlines these updates in full each week, we thought we'd help truncate the good news into something more digestible.

June 13, 2010 - Last year at the Tokyo Game Show, I was led into a darkened theater, shown a game that I couldn't understand a word of, and watched people get their bones broken on the streets of Japan. It was Yakuza 4. I was in love – and I wasn't alone. The group of IGN editors there voted the title the best PlayStation 3 game at TGS, and I famously declared that if SEGA didn't bring this game to the United States and Europe, it was "the dumbest company on the face of the planet."

March 10, 2010 - SEGA is happy to announce that Yakuza 3 has shipped to retailers in North America exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 3. Kazuma hits the mean streets of Okinawa and Tokyo in Yakuza 3 and you're invited along to crack skulls and live out this truly cinematic Japanese gangster drama.

March 9, 2010 - I just finished Yakuza 3, and I'm pretty sure that I love it. The game looks a bit dated because it was released in Japan a while ago and SEGA took it's sweet time getting it over here, the "beat all these guys up" gameplay can get repetitive, and the entire thing's in Japanese so you better be ready to read some subtitles. But, despite all of that, this game is a blast.

February 26, 2010 - The world of gaming moves at a breakneck pace. Just as soon as you buy the latest release there's talk of a sequel or downloadable content. Here at IGN we're lucky enough to play some of these games before they hit store shelves. So we can make a pretty good guess at what the big topics of discussion will be next month when a new round of heavy hitting games are released. Here are five stories that are gaining buzz in the office.

February 23, 2010 - With the release of Yakuza 3 just two weeks away, fans are beginning to go off the deep end about the beat'em up/RPG-like/Grand Theft Auto-like game that has you wandering the streets of Japan and wailing on bad guys silly enough to get in your way. However, one of the biggest questions on the minds of readers like you is did everything that made the game a hit in Japan make it into the U.S. version.

February 19, 2010 - Yakuza 3 won't be for everyone, and that's a damn shame. Yes, it's going to turn some Americans off that there's no English voice track, that the game was released in Japan some time ago so the graphics aren't exactly cutting edge, and that lots of stuff goes down in text boxes so you'll have to read and click through to advance, but the gamers that stick around are going to be treated to a compelling story, ridiculous dialogue, and some cool characters.

December 8, 2009 - Way, way back in February, I masqueraded as a Japanese PlayStation 3 user, downloaded the Japan-only demo of Yakuza 3, and posted a bunch of videos here on IGN. It was a game of wailing on people in the streets of Japan, amazing looking cutscenes, and so much more, but I couldn't understand a word of it, and SEGA was noncommittal about the title coming to the States. Today, SEGA announced Yakuza 3 is indeed coming to the land of burgers and fries, and I even got to see it in action.

September 21, 2009 - Will Yakuza 3 finally be made available to hungry SEGA fans in the U.S.?
A report published by 1up cites a source close to the project saying the localization process for North American and Europe has already begun. The report also notes SEGA may not be handling the localization for the PlayStation 3 exclusive, and that the game could in fact be published by another company.

July 31, 2009 - The internet exploded earlier this week when SEGA's Ray Almeda personally stated Yakuza 3 will never be released stateside. He claims the game will never sell, which is why the company can't justify bringing it over.
But as a member of SEGA's PR team, one should know you never open your mouth, even with your friends.

April 6, 2009 - According to a story posted on Reuters this morning, Sony's PS3 outsold Nintendo's Wii during the month of March. Sales of the PS3 were reported at 146,948 units as opposed to the 99,335 Wii units sold. In third place, the Xbox 360 is noted to have 43,172 units sold.

March 19, 2009 - Sega's Yakuza 3 has done something few PS3 games before it have achieved: made it into the Media Create Japanese top ten three weeks in a row. Sure enough, the game is one of the best selling PS3 games yet. In fact, it just crossed the half million mark in shipped units, Sega announced today.

March 13, 2009 - Sony is on a roll over in Japan. Last week, Media Create's sales charts had PS3 topping all other hardware with Yakuza 3 beating down all other software. For this week, covering March 2 through March 9, PSP and PS3 topped the hardware charts, with the PS3 version of Resident Evil 5 coming out far ahead of the software pack.

March 10, 2009 - This week's Gaming Life in Japan is coming to you from a different type of Japan, where Sony systems topped both the hardware and software sales charts for one week, and will likely do the same for two or more weeks to come.

February 26, 2009 - The PS3's last hope for pulling out of third place in the Japanese console charts hit Japan today. And by hit, we mean like with a baseball bat, as Sega did not let the release of Yakuza 3 (or as it's known over there, Ryu ga Gotoku 3) go quietly.

February 6, 2009 - Yakuza 3's ties to the suntanning industry apparently go a bit further than that thick coating of sun that covers producer Toshihiro Nagoshi. Today, Sega announced yet another promotion for the Japanese version of the game, which is known over there as Ryu ga Gotoku 3, and this one is for those who like to maintain a healthy shade.